


we could be together (if you wanted to)

by mr_charles



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M, ben is a FUCKIN nERD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-03-04 14:30:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13366686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mr_charles/pseuds/mr_charles
Summary: there is nobody more terrifying than Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the Empire. With Hux and Phasma by his side, they rule the galaxies with terror and order.except, in real life, Kylo Ren is a court clerk named Ben Solo who finds himself falling in love with the woman who keeps fixing his car when it breaks down.featuring Rey, the sturdy mechanic, Leia, the exasperated mother, Han, the equally exasperated father, a rural hippie uncle, Finn and Poe, the healthiest couple in the state, and their overweight dog named BeeBee.





	1. Chapter 1

“Order...” Kylo breathed, barely containing his rage. “We need order. Order—“

“Order is what keeps our galaxy together!” Hux shouted, slamming his fist on the table, ancient wood creaking under the weight of his leather fist.

“Order is what will bring us—“ Phasma started, only to be silenced by a deafening whistle. “Aw shit! Can one of you check the time? My watch is in my car.”

Armie rolled up his sleeve and sighed, looking at his smart watch. “Fuck. It’s 3:00pm.”

From across the park, Finn narrowed his eyes, silver whistle between his teeth. His loyal dog, a fat beagle named BeeBee, barked at the trio.

“You know the rules! Three o’clock! The park now is reserved for the—“ he paused and pulled a clipboard out from behind his back, “—Kanata party! Maz is 86 today!”

Ben clicked his helmet off, hissing as the too small prop slid off his head. “Fuck.”

“We didn’t even get to the battle,” Gwen pouted.

“Same time next week?”

“We can’t,” Armie grumbled, grabbing Gwen’s hand. “We’re meeting her parents at their lake house.”

“If Mummy asks, we met at work,” Gwen says, smiling at Armie. Granted, both of them did work on different floors of the local courthouse but had really only met in the past few years they had been playing Empire in person. 

“Oh, what?” Ben laughs as he pulls his gloves off. “You can’t tell Mrs. P that you two met in what is essentially live action D&D?”

“Does she know you still play?” Ben asks as they walk back to the parking lot.

Gwen shrugs, slinging her heavy commander boots over her shoulder. Even without them on, she’s still got a few inches on Armie. “She doesn’t ask. Armie’s dad still sends him season tickets for college football to try and convince himself he’s not doing Empire anymore.”

“Why the fuck do I need seats in a box for a football game? Isn’t the point to be nose to the turf? They don’t even come with beer vouchers.”

Ben laughs as he gets to his car. “Call me when you guys are back in town. I’ll beat Finn’s ass to get us an extra few hours in the park.”

BeeBee barks from somewhere in the park, almost like he heard the threat against his owner. 


	2. Chapter 2

A few hours later, Ben has his costume hanging in his closet. He likes to make himself a nice dinner Sundays after Empire, and tonight plans on grilling some asparagus with pork.

Except he has no asparagus. Or pork. Or milk. Or eggs. Or—

“Fuck.”

He shoves his wallet in his jacket, awkwardly jogging to his car. His car, a burgundy disaster that’s quickly approaching its third decade and has its bumper taped on, that won’t start.

Why won’t his car start?

He remembers earlier at the park, when the car made a god awful screech before starting. How long has it been making that noise?

“Fuck!”

He kicks a dent in the side of the door.

 

 

“Falcon. This is Rey.”

“Ray?”

“Rey.”

“Uh.” Ben pauses. He thought his dad worked alone. “Is Han there?”

“Hang on.” Muffled voices. “Nah.” Her accent is similar to Armie’s and Gwen’s.

“Uh, okay then.” Ben is taken aback by the girl’s rudeness. He faintly hears her smacking bubblegum.

“Well, when will he be there?”

“He’s at a convention this week,” the girl sighs. “Him and Bacca are on the east coast until Thursday.”

Right. The fucking car show. Han dragged him every year until he was 14 and—

“Want me to tell him you called?”

Ben sighs and pinches his nose. “No. Just. It’s Ben.

“Who?”

“Ben So— Ben! Han is my dad.”

“Ohhh!” She laughs.

“Can you— I need you to come tow my car. It won’t start.”

“Address?”

He has to repeat it twice because she’s got music blaring behind her but finally she gets it right.

“Mmkay,” she smacks. “Gimme a mo’.”

“I’ll give you a “mo’”,” Ben drawls sarcastically after she hangs up.


	3. Chapter 3

An hour later, the Falcon truck rolls up in front of his place. Ben hears muffled alternative rock coming from the vehicle, getting louder and muffling again as the door opens and shuts. He hears Rey sort of sing along as chains jangle and clank.

She’s skinny, wearing a dirty long sleeved t-shirt and cut off denim shorts that hang awkwardly at her knees. Ben hmms as he watches her hitch his car up on the back of the tow truck. When she seems satisfied with her work, she haphazardly wipes her greasy hands on her shirt and makes her way up his sidewalk.

“Oh shit!”

He quickly tears himself away from the window, flinging himself in a chair to try and appear casual as she pounds on his door with a flat palm.

“Ben! We got your car ready! Wanna ride with me?”

“Y-yeah!” He stammers as he hurriedly shoves his wallet in his pocket. “I’m getting my shoes on!”

“Hurry up! Ain’t got all day.”

He mumbles sarcastically before flinging the door open.

“Come on, man,” she says, pointing her thumb at the truck. “Let’s go.”

Oh no, Ben thinks.

_She’s cute._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is significantly longer because i sat down for more than 10 minutes to work on this

His car needed a new starter. It was an easy fix, cheap as well. Rey found one, a heavy cylinder of metal that looked more like a vintage pencil sharpener than a car part. Ben finds himself flat on his back next to Rey on a dirty towel on rough cement. 

“See that?” She points to something in the maze of metal and axels as his car is lifted above them.

“Uh-huh,” Ben agrees, having no idea what he’s actually looking at. 

“ _That_ ,” she jabs her finger for emphasis, “that is your starter. See how it’s worn?”

“Uh-huh.”

“It ain’t supposed to be tilted,” she shrugs, bony shoulders brushing against him. “Starters do this thing, right? They send this little key type thing jutting out to sorta fire the rest of the car up. They go out all the time on these models.”

“I thought it was because I hit the barricade,” Ben mumbles.

“You drive over somethin’ you shouldn’t have?”

“There might have been a barricade at The Golden Monkey that I didn’t see.”

“How did that happen?”

“They forgot my wontons.”

Rey laughs, and Ben can’t tell if the beautiful crack of joy is aimed at him or not. “Did you drive over the barricade in a rage to get your _wontons_?”

“I really wanted those wontons.”

She laughs again, absentmindedly slapping him on the shoulder harder than she probably intended. 

He feels a weird pang of sadness as Rey cranks his car back down. She wipes the muck off her hands with a dirty rag, but most of the sludge and dirt on her hands ends up in twin handprints on the back of her shorts. 

“I’ll tell your dad you said hi, alright?”

Ben stalls, an awkward sound sputtering out of his chest.

“Or…not?”

The sound continues and doesn’t stop reverberating in his chest until he gets home. He picks angrily at his salad in his dining room, running through scenarios in his mind where he dashingly woos Rey off her dirty running shoe’d feet and into his arms. Should he have grunted in virile masculinity while lifting heavy car parts? Would she have sighed dreamily at the sight of him navigating his way through the labyrinth of gears and axels to install his own starter? 

Deep in his bones, he feels like she would call him an idiot, no matter what he did. 

 

Ben expects to never see Rey again after that day. Monday, at work, he finds himself staring sadly into the dregs of his coffee as Poe, the guy with his head firmly up Ben’s mom’s ass, complains to his boyfriend on the phone. 

“Finn, honey, I know you’re going out of town this weekend to see your brother. Yeah, no don’t worry about BeeBee! We can get Rey to feed him; she’ll be home!”

Rey? Home? What? Because Finn and Poe are A Thing. But is Rey, like, the third part of That Thing? He thinks briefly of being the third wheel to Armie and Gwen and shudders to himself. He sighs again and misses the flash of Poe’s obnoxious orange cardigan as the other man sits himself next to Ben at the table. 

“How’s the car runnin’, buddy?”

“Whuh?”

“Rey told me she fixed your car on Sunday,” Poe explains. “She wanted me to ask how it was running for ya.”

“’S good,” Ben mutters. “T-tell her I said thanks.”

“Will do, buddy,” Poe slaps him on the shoulder. “I’ll tell your ma you said hi.”

Poe knows he and Councilwoman Organa don’t really speak and has taken it upon himself to fix that. As a result, he’s been running messages between the two for nearly three years. Ben never says hi to Leia; Leia probably doesn’t care about his Passovers. But Poe manages to pull threads that keep them together, despite Ben’s desperate attempts to separate himself from his family. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not jewish but i know that carrie fisher was so of course leia is and she and han raised ben that way so i am sorry if anything misaligns with the faith


End file.
